


Aquaria

by Kyluxtrashpit (ApostateRevolutionary)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Aquariums, Awkward Dates, Fluff, Insecurity, M/M, Soft Kylux, like super soft I am not joking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 15:11:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15754260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApostateRevolutionary/pseuds/Kyluxtrashpit
Summary: It's Kylo's turn to pick the location for his date with Hux. He's sure Hux will enjoy his choice. Definitely....He will, right?





	Aquaria

**Author's Note:**

> For [huxlolidays](http://huxlolidays.tumblr.com/) on tumblr's August 21 prompt

Kylo tried not to wring his hands as he waited outside the aquarium for Hux. It’d been his turn to pick the location of their date and Kylo was reasonably confident Hux would enjoy this. Reasonably. They’d been dating for a few months now and while Kylo was still floored someone so far out of his league was interested in him, he did feel it was going well. Hux may have been hard to read sometimes, his outer shell hard as diamond, but Kylo liked him anyways. Liked him more than was probably acceptable at this point, in all honesty.

He was just starting to muse again as to whether the aquarium had been the right choice when a flash of orange caught his eye. Kylo followed it and saw Hux coming up the stairs to the entrance, where Kylo was waiting. He couldn’t help but smile, his nerves soothing somewhat as Hux approached and greeted him with a quick kiss.

“You’re early,” Hux said, wry, “I’m impressed.

“Well, it was my idea, wasn’t it?” Kylo shot back with a smile, moving towards the door. “I wasn’t going to let you wait the ten minutes you’re always early by alone.”

Hux laughed, making Kylo’s stomach flutter. They walked in and Kylo showed their tickets to the desk, slightly proud of himself for thinking to buy them ahead of time. Perhaps Hux’s compulsive over-preparedness was starting to rub off on him after all.

As they entered the aquarium proper, Hux took Kylo’s hand, as if that was the most natural and normal thing in the world and wasn’t currently causing Kylo’s cheeks to heat up and his heart to pound. Even after months of this, it always took Kylo by surprise and made him giddy. Hux was the kind of person to go out of his way to avoid touching people, Kylo having seen him dodging others in a crowd and carefully taking coffee cups that were handed to him such that there was no accidental hand contact, yet he chose to touch Kylo, just because he could. It warmed Kylo from head to toe.

They made small talk as they walked through the introductory part of the aquarium, mostly informative displays. Kylo was in his last year of university studying art and he’d just started planning his final project, which Hux listened politely too. Hux, meanwhile, was an engineer working for a big firm and he mostly shared stories about his irritating coworkers, complete with some creative insults that made Kylo smirk.

Once they entered the exhibits proper, though, Kylo could no longer keep up the conversation. It was even more impressive than he’d expected it to be, seeing huge tanks with fish he’d never seen before inside. He couldn’t help himself, drawn to each tank and eagerly tugging an unresisting Hux along as he moved along the huge hall.

A tank filled with jellyfish held him for at least ten minutes, captivated by their hypnotic movements, and at another, he was just about to move on when a sunfish came into view, immediately obscuring anything else both in the glass and in Kylo’s mind. He didn’t know exactly what was so fascinating about fish, but he couldn’t help but stare in wide-eyed wonder at every display they came to.

Hux didn’t protest or complain, remaining politely interested the entire time. Yet there was also a distance to him, like he was only pretending to be interested to humour his boyfriend when in truth he didn’t care all that much. Kylo’s heart sank as he made the connection, frowning even as a turtle in one of the larger exhibits swam by.

Kylo wondered if this hadn’t been a terrible idea after all. Was Hux hating it? Would he hate the rest of it, including the surprise lunch Kylo had been so excited about he’d immediately paid extra for it? Was it so terrible that Hux was never going to let him pick their date location again or, even worse, break up with him over it? Kylo knew he was overthinking but once he started, it was nearly impossible to stop. The only thing he hoped was that the hand Hux was still affectionately holding didn’t start sweating.

At the electric eel tank, the eel being the only animal inside, there was a glimmer of hope. The eel was lying on the bottom of the tank, asleep, according to the staff member who was presenting it. They said to keep an eye on the voltmeter that was attached to the tank, and both Kylo and Hux did, with the rest of the small crowd that had gathered to watch.

As they watched, the meter suddenly ticked up, indicating the eel had discharged some electricity. A few people gasped, Kylo’s mouth falling as well. He looked over to Hux to see that even Hux’s lips had parted in surprise, intrigued by the eel. The staff member left them with a question about what the eel might have been dreaming about as they walked to the next section.

“Maybe the eel wasn’t even dreaming,” Hux mused, as they walked, oddly fixated. “We jerk in our sleep sometimes, even when we’re not dreaming. It might have just been a bodily reaction.”

“Maybe it was dreaming about hunting,” Kylo countered. “Dogs and cats dream about chasing prey, you can tell from the way they run and bite in their sleep sometimes. A shock would be the same for an eel.”

Hux made a thoughtful noise but didn’t say anything more and they walked together to the next section, which was also the location of the surprise lunch Kylo had planned. He felt a little better now, seeing Hux more engaged, but there were still some doubts floating through Kylo’s mind. He wanted Hux to like to this, to like spending time with him and enjoy at least some of the same things Kylo did.

When they passed through to the next section, though, Hux stopped dead in his tracks and Kylo did so with him. The glass tunnel stretched over them, the water surrounding them from all sides, filled with all sorts of marine species. It was amazing beyond words; Kylo couldn’t help just staring up, mouth open in awe. It was like they were right there, in the same underwater world with all the life surrounding them.

Barely remembering himself, Kylo turned to see Hux gaping, eyes wide with child-like wonder. Kylo forgot to breathe. He’d never seen Hux look like that, so amazed that he forgot to keep himself in check. It was beautiful and Kylo’s heart jumped at the sight; in that moment, he was positively enamoured.

“Hux,” Kylo said, getting his attention and barely resisting a laugh when Hux turned, his jaw snapping shut so fast it was audible.

“Sorry, what was that?” he asked and it was hard to tell with all the blue surrounding them, but were his cheeks a little pink?

Kylo couldn’t help a smile. “We’ll be having lunch here.”

He gestured to the tables, some of which were occupied and the rest had little ‘Reserved’ plaques on them. Kylo led them to their table, showing their tickets to the attendant who brought them the small lunch menu. There were only a few items on it, all basic; it was the experience they were paying for.

“Kylo, this is…” Hux trailed off, frowning at his menu. “This is amazing, truly. I’m so glad you brought me here and thought of this.”

Kylo’s cheeks got warm again. “Well, I’ve always wanted to come here but I had no one to bring except my younger cousin and I thought you might like it so… And when I saw you could eat here, surrounded by all this, I couldn’t _not_ do that.”

The waiter came to take their orders and the menus, and Hux said, “I am really enjoying this. I know I’m not always the best at showing that, but it’s important to me that you know it.”

Kylo flushed harder, looking away from Hux and at the fish outside instead, trying to gather his thoughts. “I’m glad you are, really. Admittedly, I was a little nervous that you might hate it.”

Hux reached out for Kylo’s hand, gently stroking his thumb over the back of it. “Really, it’s great. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Kylo smiled again and was about to say something that was probably too sappy and far too serious for so early on in their relationship, but the waiter returning saved him. Kylo had a sandwich and Hux had a salad, which they both dug into right away. They didn’t worry about talking while they ate, both looking at all the fish surrounding them. It was utterly surreal in the best possible way.

As Kylo finished his sandwich, he looked over to see a huge shark passing right near the glass, close enough that he could reach out and touch it if not for the barrier. He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out anyways, pressing his hand against the glass as the great fish passed by. Kylo could’ve sworn it looked at him as he did so.

When he turned back, he saw Hux giving him a fond smile, so much affection in it that Kylo was glad the blue surrounding them would hopefully hide most of the blushing he’d been doing since they’d gotten here. It was hard not to, though, even after all this time, with a man like Hux showing so much interest in him. Kylo still didn’t know what he’d done to attract Hux in the first place, but he had no intention of losing him now.

Once they were done eating, they stayed a little longer, sitting in companionable silence as they watched the underwater world around them, save for the occasional exclamation of ‘look at that!’ coupled with excited pointing. Eventually, though, they had to leave, reluctantly shuffling out so the table could be prepared for the next people. There wasn’t much left to see before they’d been all the way through and Kylo never wanted this day to end.

It was Kylo who reached out for Hux’s hand this time, bolstered by the confirmation that Hux was having fun. Hux allowed it, giving a quick squeeze of affection once their hands were joined. They meandered through the final exhibits, spending more time at some than others. They both loved the octopus and Kylo found a tank full of large crabs oddly fascinating. Hux got fixated on the nautilus, explaining what a living fossil was and how lucky it was that they still existed at all. It was Kylo’s turn to smile fondly at that, falling for Hux a little more every time he went on one of his little rants like that.

It could only last so long, though, and soon they were on their way out. They stopped at the gift shop first, just to see, but then Hux was buying him a stuffed shark, exactly like the one that had swam by in the tunnel. Kylo almost protested on principal, but resisted when he saw the look in Hux’s eyes as he presented it, too genuine to say no to.

Outside, they shared a longer kiss, holding each other close, the stuffed shark squished awkwardly between them. It was still perfect, though, even with the cool fall air nipping at their ears as the day slipped quickly into evening. Kylo wished more than anything he could go home with Hux or vice versa, but he knew it wasn’t possible today.

“Alright, I’m sorry, Kylo, but I have to go,” Hux said as they parted. “I have that dinner with my coworkers tonight and as much as it’s going to be terrible, it is mandatory.”

Kylo leaned forward a bit more, pressed their foreheads together. “I know, I know. I still think you should blow it off and pretend you have food poisoning or something.”

Hux chuckled. “You know I’d love to, but I can’t. I was lucky enough to be able to get today off, you know. But how about tomorrow night? Do you have any plans?”

The only thing Kylo had planned for his Saturday night was, at best, working on planning his final project or, more likely, watching something subpar on Netflix for half the night. “Nope. Want to meet for dinner?”

Hux smiled again. “Alright then, it’s a date. I’ll text you the details. Until then, darling.”

Kylo froze at the endearment, but Hux didn’t seem to notice as he gave Kylo a quick kiss on the cheek and then turned around, walking back towards the street. Darling? Did that actually just happen? Hux had never called him anything other than his name or, rarely and to others, his boyfriend. Now he was ‘darling’? Kylo’s heart fluttered and he finally remembered to breathe once Hux made it back to his car.

That night at home, Kylo’s phone buzzed and he smiled, getting Hux’s text about how he’d needed to escape to the bathroom for a few minutes before his usual creative insults starting coming out in front of his coworkers. He sent back an ‘I told you faking food poisoning was a better idea’ and then received a string of insulting emojis in return. Kylo couldn’t help but laugh, sending Hux the middle finger next to a heart. He felt like the kind of teenager he’d never gotten to be as he teased his boyfriend over text and held the stuffed shark close to his chest, the word ‘darling’ playing through his mind in Hux’s accent.

**Author's Note:**

> Come hang out with me on [tumblr](http://kyluxtrashpit.tumblr.com.) too


End file.
